Opposition political parties in Lesotho have countered Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s appeal to the Southern African Development Community.
- Eleven opposition parties appealed to the SADC to focus on a potential coup plot in Lesotho.
- The opposition said it was using a constitutional channel to recall the prime minister.
- It added that key members were being threatened by the security sector.
Opposition political parties in Lesotho have countered Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s appeal to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), saying that, since its vote of no confidence move, the mountain kingdom has become a quasi-police/military state.
The country is now at risk of a coup, the coalition argues.
Matekane was the first to write to the SADC, claiming that “selfish” politicians wanted to derail the country’s democracy by unseating him constitutionally.
The opposition responded by addressing a letter to the SADC’s executive secretary, Elias Magosi, copied to the bloc’s chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema, as well as South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is the bloc’s facilitator of the security situation in the country.
READ | Lesotho’s prime minister appeals to SADC over plot to unseat him
Vote of no confidence
The leaders of the 11 political parties calling for the removal of Matekane from office said they had legal ground, as they took advantage of fighting in the ruling Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) and its allies.
“Recent expulsions of some RFP members and defections of others deprived the government of the majority in the House and, in light of this development, the opposition submitted a proposal for a vote of no confidence in the government, in accordance with Section 87 of the Constitution of Lesotho and National Assembly Standing Order No. 110,” reads the letter to SADC.
Matekane’s RFP formed a coalition with the Movement for Economic Change and the Alliance of Democrats.
The main opposition, Democratic Congress, initiated the vote of no confidence, armed with a 2020 constitutional amendment which clipped the powers of the executive.
The opposition walked into Parliament on 16 October to table the motion, which was stopped by a court interdict that will be heard before the Constitutional Court on Monday.
For a recall of the prime minister, there’s a need for a straight majority, and the opposition has 61 out of 120 legislators on its side.
This recall is different from that of the Speaker of Parliament, which requires a two-thirds majority.
Crackdown on opposition
Since the motion, opposition political parties, in its letter, said it was “extremely urgent” to alert the SADC of what was brewing in Lesotho.
They alleged that there had been incidents of crackdowns on people linked to the vote of no confidence after the security sector declared the vote would not be allowed.
READ | Lesotho’s prime minister dodges debate on his removal, but his govt is now paralysed
The opposition claimed that, on 18 October, Teboho Mojapela – the leader of the Socialist Revolutionaries – was “roughed up and kept at the police head office, where he was released after nine hours without any charge”.
On the same day, they claimed, “police laid siege” at Basotho National Party leader Machesetsa Mofomobe’s house at midnight, and only left at dawn.
Alleged coup plot
They said the army commander, Lieutenant-General Mojalefa Letsoela, addressed soldiers who had returned from the SADC Standby Force, and issued threats that any transfer of power would not be accepted.
According to Dragonfly Security Consultancy, Lesotho was already at high risk of a coup.
The other countries in the SADC region, which are at the same level, are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Angola and Zimbabwe.
The opposition parties in Lesotho told the SADC that “a plan hatched by some in the current government, in collaboration with some among the Security Services, is to effect a military takeover, should a vote of no confidence be successfully passed”.
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